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2007 Grant - Hoey

Development of an Automated System to Facilitate Creative Expression

Jesse Hoey, Ph.D.
University of Dundee
Dundee, Scotland

2007 Everyday Technologies for Alzheimer Care Research Grant

Research studies have shown that the use of creative expression activities, such as painting, can have a significant impact on the quality of life of people with dementia and may slow the decline of cognitive skills. Unfortunately, many obstacles exist for implementing routine creative expression activities for persons with dementia who choose to live at home. These obstacles include the lack of motivation and initiation; the lack of control, guidance or attention; and the lack of therapists to facilitate the activities in the home.

In an effort to address this problem, Jesse Hoey, Ph.D., proposes the creation of an assistive technology device to motivate and enable independent artistic expression at home. The device will have a simple interface for the creation of visual artwork of various media. It will provide verbal and visual assistance to the user as well as motivational cues. And through the use of artificial intelligence, the device will be adaptable to its user's particular visual, auditory and motor capabilities.

Dr. Hoey's project will take place in three stages including (1) the gathering of data to determine design specifications, (2) the design and building of the control software and hardware device and (3) the clinical testing of the device by therapists, caregivers and individuals with dementia.

This work may result in a usable tool to motivate and enable people with dementia to be actively creative in their homes while, in turn, improving their quality of life and the quality of life of their family and caregiver.